Turn A Gundam

The Turn A Gundam design is one of my favorite Gundam designs, largely because of how “out there” it is. It’s aesthetics are nothing like any other Gundam seen at the time due to Syd Mead being the mecha designer.

This particular toy is part of the Robot Spirts line by Bandai. This is actually a special release. The first Turn A Gundam Robot Spirits release came in the original color scheme, released in October 2009 for 3,150 yen. This new version looks to be the same, right down to all the accessories, with the addition of a silver paint scheme – this time for 4,725 yen. Oh, and the box is different. Yay.

Fortunately though, the silver paint scheme is awesome. It just looks so sharp like this. This one is labeled “Nano-Skin” version – a reference to the Nanomachines that power the Turn-A.

The figure itself is great. The joints feel solid and it moves just right.

The head’s on a ball-joint with an interchangeable moustache. How many robots do you know that have interchangeable moustaches? Not many, I’ll bet. One is softer rubber, the other his harder plastic.

The chest features a removable chest plate that can be swapped with one depicting all the compartments open and weaponized.

The torso has two ball jointed sections.

Each shoulder features a non-moveable shoulderpad. If you had the New Material Turn-A, you might remember those are infamous for breaking off. It’s nice to have a version of the design where I don’t have to worry about that. Shoulders, elbows, and wrists are all jointed, with a fantastic range of motion.

Variant hands are included: an open set, a grasping set, and the default closed set.

The waist has the non-removable core fighter with the clear dome and movable wings. The hips have skirts on the side which pop off frequently during play.

The legs connect to the hips via ball joints, the knees are double jointed, and the ankles have a wide range of motion with a unique ankle joint. The backs of the legs have interchangeable panels. I think these are the Nano Particle generators, but I am not sure of the significance of the difference between the parts.

When it comes to weaponry, this figure has you covered.

Turn A is equipped with two beam sabers with removable hilts. When not in use, the hilts can be stored on the back of the figure.

There’s an assembly that can be attached to the back of the figure that can store the rifle and shield when not in use.

The shield can be attached to the arm, and has fold down sides and a fold out handle.

The rifle has a folding handle, as well as a collapsible end.

One thing this is missing is the ball and chain weapon. It’s a really cool signature weapon that is omitted from this release.